Interiors should not be the product of ephemeral style trends, but of a client’s own personality and preference. Studio Clementine takes a collaborative approach, both between client and studio, and in terms of the many specialist skills and suppliers our designers bring to a project. We pride ourselves on listening to what people want and then surpassing expectations both creatively and in delivering a seamless, personal service.
THE LANGUAGE OF STITCH
Mollie Regan and Studio Clementine
A Conversation with Rosalyn by Georgina Wood
Georgina Wood and Rosalyn Chivers, Managing Director and Founder of Mollie Regan Studio, sat down to discuss her career and work with embroidery.
My love for embroidery, came first from point shoes, darning them and learning how stitches are both utility and adornment. I was also influenced by my mother’s love for needlework. She owned a haberdashery shop, and so my summer holidays were spent at the back of her shop learning how to crochet, knit and sew with the local retired ladies.
Rosalyn, founder of Mollie Regan, has a wonderfully rich and varied career, one that seems to weave together experience, curiosity, and a deep appreciation for the craft of adorning fabric. These experiences now come together in her work, where she creates beautifully detailed embroidery for a wide range of projects, from personal pieces to larger collaborations. Each reflects refined craftsmanship and a quiet respect for tradition, while remaining fresh, contemporary, and distinctive.
HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO EMBROIDERY, WAS IT SOMETHING THAT YOU GREW UP WITH, OR DID IT FIND YOU LATER?
I didn’t really grow up with embroidery; it was a passion I fell in love with later in life. One of my grandmothers gave me a Marks and Spencer’s book on fashion, she was that classic 1940s London Lady who always wore a hat and gloves in church. From there, I was hooked in terms of a life in design.
When I was at school, I wanted to do costume conservation, as it transpired, I was possibly the worst scientist ever and had no grasp of chemistry at all. I actually applied to the Royal School of Needlework and had a place there, but unfortunately was too young to move, and so I did my A Levels, and moved to Bournemouth Art College and later on got my teaching degree. From Bournemouth, I got a work placement in London with the most unbelievable couturier Victor Edelstein, and then with Bruce Oldfield, who needed a production manager. From there I went to Anouska Hempel Couture and worked as her production manager.
The amazing thing was I was able to meet all these fabric and lace representatives, the logistics of international shipping, and, of course, I met embroidery people.
I then had the opportunity to work for an embroidery company which worked with European fashion houses like Loewe and Gucci. When this job came to its natural end, I got a call from Richard James on Savill Row, who needed a collection of embroidered shirts and asked if we could do it. That’s really how it started. I did a few years in fashion and then moved over to interiors after a job with the Athenaeum Hotel. It was really nice that it just naturally flowed into interiors I was really lucky.
I'm now also an industry ambassador for the textile degree course at Bournemouth Art University. So I go in, and I talk to the students and try to encourage them to pursue a career in design. They come and visit me, and I give them talks on all those sorts of things that go alongside having a business.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHERE TO BEGIN A PROJECT?
Every project starts with a concept, which is always led by the client. From there, the second thing is always the base fabric. It's quite common for me to speak with clients who know exactly what they want but don't know or consider the base cloth. The base fabric is so intrinsically linked to the embroidery, and how the embroidery reacts to the base fabric. The next question I would ask is what the scale of the piece is, the length, the width, and the quantity. I don’t mind what scale it is, but I think because my brain is 50% design and 50% production, I always need to know roughly what we’re dealing with from the start.
IS THERE A TYPE OF EMBROIDERY OR DESIGN WHICH YOU PREFER TO CREATE?
I usually avoid using the word organic as it's often overused, but it’s definitely more organic rather than illustrated. I think that our work should have a purpose, and should never be embroidery for the sake of embroidering. It has to have a depth to it, be it either colour, texture or material, without being too crafty. If it were a painting, it would be impressionism rather than realism.
WITHOUT TELLING US ALL YOUR SECRETS, WHERE DO YOU SOURCE YOUR BEADS AND THREADS?
I like to buy antiques, there are a couple of people I follow on Instagram that I look out for, especially if I hear of a sale going on. Normally, the team in India will source, because we have to be able to repeat our work, so we can't always use antiques. Fried Freres in Paris are a favourite, they do beautiful sequins and Mokuba in Japan have beautiful beads. Generally speaking, it has to be something that comes out of India. Part of that is also that we have to look at the cost of sending large quantities of supplies into India. The workshops we use are fantastic, they can dye beads, threads and fabrics, which is really useful when sampling.
IS THERE A MATERIAL THAT YOU THINK IS UNDERAPPRECIATED?
Good old British Wool. Your good old Melton uniform wool is a lovely, solid British staple, and when embroidered is just beautiful. I have found myself recently trying to convince one of my few fashion clients of the wisdom of a gorgeous embroidered wool coat. It’s the most beautiful fibre to embroider onto, whether it’s a felted wool or even a sheer wool.
Otherwise, I also love Linen, although it’s definitely not underappreciated. And then I think the French silks, hundreds of years of skill and technique have gone into creating the silks they produce today. The availability of materials we have now is immense, which in some ways is odd because a lot of the European silk manufacturers have gone.
HOW DOES SCALE AFFECT YOUR WORK, DOES A LARGE-SCALE INTERIOR PIECE DEMAND A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACH TO A SMALLER, MORE INTIMATE COMMISSION?
I would say that a smaller commission is more worrying than a large one. There’s nowhere to hide in terms of design, it’s more concerning in terms of detail. So for example, a client who orders a cushion will have a lot more concentration on one place, rather than a customer who uses lengths of borders for curtains, the eye won’t settle in one place. However, a large-scale piece will always raise questions about logistics first, rather than design. There can be projects which seem endless in scale, and unless the client has an endless budget, it has to be made realistic and possible physically while also looking good. A large-scale piece will always start with a kind of logistical end of how do we do this? And the small piece will start with the colour, the detail, the technique.
WHEN WE WORKED TOGETHER ON THE BELGRAVIA MARKETING SUITE, YOU CREATED THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EMBROIDERED BORDERS FOR THE CURTAINS, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THAT PROCESS AND WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO SEE THEM IN SITU?
Seeing a photo of the finished project was really lovely and put into perspective the scale of the curtains we created the trims for. I remember when we were looking at creating the borders, I was interested to see how they would be attached to the curtains. Your curtain maker, Dextene, did such an incredible job, especially considering how heavy the borders are. The sourcing of the pearls and the beads took a little more thought because of the weight and scale of the borders, and as always, knowing how it was going to interact with the base cloth.
The pattern also took a bit of thought; the ‘un-patterned’ pieces are often trickier and require more thought than a ‘patterned’ piece. It’s usually harder to create something that looks completely natural, as the brain doesn’t naturally ‘do’ random so we actually end up drawing every individual pearl application.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE MOLLY REGAN STUDIO AESTHETIC? IS THERE A VISUAL LANGUAGE THAT RUNS THROUGH EVERYTHING YOU MAKE?
I would say, things that catch the light, there’s definitely a play with light, shade and density. It’s very much about texture and the surface without being a perfect finish. We normally mix an element of matte and shiny throughout, and we love working with shears because of that gorgeous density change.
WHAT ARE YOU DRAWN TO RIGHT NOW? IN TERMS OF MATERIALS, MOOD OR INSPIRATION?
I’m really interested in Ivory Wool at the moment and playing with the balance of heavy and light.
I‘m also really inspired by whitework and blackwork, which uses the very traditional stab stitching technique made up of lots of tiny stab stitches. We’ve been playing with using metallics, so it picks up a little light with every little stitch. Also, shadow work which I can imagine it with big Italian swirls, with that faded old glamour on a Fortuny fabric, for example.
IS THERE A COMMISSION THAT STANDS OUT AS A DEFINING MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER?
There are always moments that stick out in your career, and those moments we all look back on, whether it's working with you and seeing those beautiful curtains go up. Or when I worked for Bruce, I remember looking at the now Queen Rani of Jordan's wedding dress, and it being my job to put it in the box.
With the studio, I would have to say we did this enormous wall tapestry for The Grove in Hertfordshire. It’s 25 meters of hand-stitched tapestry, and we used a scenic canvas linen, and it was done in multiple plant panels. You can see little glints of turquoise peaking throughout the embroidery. I think our work is still up, 10-12 years later and still looks exceptional. The project ticked quite a few boxes, and the workshop really rose to the challenge.
ARE THERE DISCIPLINES OUTSIDE OF TEXTILES AND EMBROIDERY THAT INSPIRE YOUR WORK?
It’s hard to meet someone in design who doesn’t live and breathe their craft, it’s not something you pick up and put down, it really is a vocation. Personally, I like taking photographs, I love my garden, and I am quite musical, all these things build up. I am also really fascinated by people, I think people are amazing, their resilience and our different cultures. I also do a lot of line drawing, even just for pleasure. There is something to be said about keeping the hands busy.
It's so wonderful to hear how these beautiful embroidered creations come to life, through the most careful planning and amazing creativity. It was also a lovely surprise to learn of our similar background of attending Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design at the same time!
Thank you for your time, Rosalyn, it was a pleasure speaking with you.
Georgina xx